ANAS

ANAS, in ornithology, a genus of birds belonging to the order of anseres. The beak of this genus is a little obtuse, covered with an epidermis or skin, gibbous at the base and broad at the apex: the tongue is obtuse and fleshy; the feet are webbed and fitted for swimming. The species are,

1. The cygnus, serus & manus.

a. The serus, with a semicylindrical black bill, yellow wax, and a white body, is the whistling or wild swan of English authors, and is less than the tame or mute species, being about five feet in length. These birds inhabit the northern world as high as Iceland, and as low as the soft climate of Greece or of Lydia, the modern Anatolia, in Asia Minor: it even descends as low as Egypt. They swarm, during summer, in the great lakes and marshes of the Tartarian and Siberian deserts; and resort in great numbers to winter about the Caspian and Euxine seas. Those of the eastern parts of Siberia retire beyond Kamtschatka, either to the coasts of America, or to the isles north of Japan. In Siberia they spread far north, but not to the Arctic circle. They arrive in Hudson's Bay about the end of May, where they breed in great numbers on the shores, in the islands, and in the inland lakes; but all retire to the southern parts of North America in autumn, even as low as Carolina and Louisiana. In Carolina they are said to be of two sorts; the larger, called from its note the Trumpeter, arrive in great flocks to the fresh rivers in winter, and in February retire to the great lakes to breed: the lesser are called

Hoopers, and frequent mostly the salt water. The Indians of Louisiana wear the skins, with the down attached to them, sewed together by way of covering; and of the larger feathers they make diadems for their chiefs, as well as weave the smaller on threads, as barbers do for their wigs, with which they cover garments, which are worn only by women of the highest rank. In August these birds lose their feathers, and are not able to fly; when the natives of Iceland and Kamtschatka hunt them with dogs, which catch them by the neck, and easily secure their prey. In the last place they are also killed with clubs. The eggs are accounted good food; and the flesh, especially that of the young, is much esteemed by the inhabitants. The uses of the feathers are manifest to every one; and the skins of the body are worn by the inhabitants; besides which, that of the legs, taken off whole, is used for purses, and appears not unlike shagreen. Wild swans, Linnaeus says, frequently visit Sweden after a thaw, and are caught with apples in which a hook is concealed. The wild swan frequents our coasts in hard winters in large flocks, but does not breed in Great Britain. Martin^a acquaints us, that swans come in October in great numbers to Lingey, one of the Western Isles; and continue there till March, when they return northward to breed. A few continue in Mainland, one of the Orkneys, and breed in the little isles of the fresh-water lochs; but the multitude retires at the approach of spring. On that account, swans are there the country-man's almanack: on their quitting the isle, they presage good weather; on their arrival, they announce bad. These, as well as most other water-fowl, prefer, for the purpose of incubation, those places that are least frequented by mankind: accordingly we find that the lakes and forests of the distant Lapland are filled during summer with myriads of waterfowl; and there swans, geese, the duck-tribe, goosanders, divers, &c. pass that season; but in autumn return to us, and to other more hospitable shores.

This species has several distinctions from the species which we in Britain call the tame swan. In Russia this species more fitly claims the name, it being the kind most commonly tamed in that empire. The whistling swan carries its neck quite erect, the other swims with it arched. This is far inferior in size. This has twelve ribs on a side, the mute only eleven. But the most remarkable is the strange figure of the windpipe; which falls into the chest, then turns back like a trumpet, and afterwards makes a second bend to join the lungs. Thus it is enabled to utter a loud and shrill note. The other swan, on the contrary, is the most silent of birds: it can do nothing more than hiss, which it does on receiving any provocation. The vocal kind emits its loud notes only when flying or calling. Its sound is, whooogh, whoogh, very loud and shrill, but not disagreeable, when heard far above one's head and modulated by the winds. The natives of Iceland compare it to the notes of a violin. In fact, they hear it (says Mr Pennant) at the end of their long and gloomy winter, when the return of the swans announces the return of summer; every note must be therefore melodious which presages the speedy thaw, and the release from their tedious confinement.

It is from this species alone that the ancients have given the fable of the swan being endowed with the powers.

powers of melody. Embracing the Pythagorean doctrine, they made the body of this bird the mansion of the souls of departed poets; and after that, attributed to the birds the same faculty of harmony which their inmates possessed in a pre-existent state. The vulgar, not distinguishing between sweetness of numbers and melody of voice, thought that real which was only intended figuratively. The mute swan, Mr Pennant observes, never frequents the Padus, nor is ever seen on the Cayster in Lydia; each of them streams celebrated by the poets for the great resort of swans.

In time, a swan became a common trop for a bard. Horace calls Pindar Dirceum Cygnum; and in one ode even supposes himself changed into a swan. Virgil speaks of his poetical brethren in the same manner:

Vare, tuum nomen

Cantantes sublime ferent ad fidera cygni. Ecl. ix.

When he speaks of them figuratively, he ascribes to them melody, or the power of music; but when he talks of them as birds, he lays aside fiction, and, like a true naturalist, gives them their real note:

Dant sonitum ranci per stagna loquacia cygni.

Æneid. Lib. x. 50.

It was also a popular opinion among the ancients, that the swan foretold its own end. To explain this, we must consider the twofold character of the poet, water and poeta, which the fable of the transmigration continues to the bird; or they might be supposed to derive that faculty from Apollo their patron deity, the god of prophecy and divination.

As to their being supposed to sing more sweetly at the approach of death, the cause is beautifully explained by Plato, who attributes that unusual melody to the same sort of ecstasy that good men are sometimes said to enjoy at that awful hour, foreseeing the joys that are preparing for them on putting off mortality.

6. The mansuetus, or mute swan, is the largest of the British Birds. It is distinguished externally from the wild swan; first, by its size, being much larger; secondly, by its bill, which in this is red, and the tip and sides black, and the skin between the eyes and bill is of the same colour. Over the base of the upper mandible, projects a black callous knob: the whole plumage, in old birds, is white; in young ones, ash-coloured till the second year: the legs are dusky; but Dr Plott mentions a variety found on the Trent near Rugely, with red legs.

The swan is found wild in Russia and Siberia, most plentiful in the last. It arrives later from the south, and does not spread so far north. Those about the southern part of the Caspian Sea are very large, and much esteemed for the use of the table. The swan is held in high veneration by the Mahometans. It is a very strong bird, and sometimes exceeding fierce: has not unfrequently been known to throw down and trample under feet youths of fifteen or sixteen years of age, and an old one to break the leg of a man with a stroke of the wings. It is said to be very long-lived, and frequently to arrive at the hundredth year. The young are not perfect in plumage till the second year. The swan lays the first egg in February, and continues laying every other day to the amount of six, seven, or eight eggs; these it places on a bed of grass near the

water, and sits six weeks. It feeds on both fish and herbage.

No bird, perhaps, makes so inelegant a figure out of the water, or has the command of such beautiful attitudes on that element, as the swan: almost every poet has taken notice of it; but none with that justness of description, and in so picturesque a manner, as our Milton:

The swan, with arched neck

Between her white wings mantling, proudly rows
Her slate with oary feet. Par. Lost, B. vii.

In former times, it was served up at every great feast, when the elegance of the table was measured by the size and quantity of the good cheer. Cygnets are to this day fattened at Norwich about Christmas, and are sold for a guinea a-piece.

Swans were formerly held in such great esteem in England, that by an act of Edward IV. c. 6. "no one that possessed a freehold of less clear yearly value than five marks, was permitted to keep any, other than the son of our sovereign lord the king." And by the eleventh of Henry VII. c. 17. the punishment for taking their eggs was imprisonment for a year and a day, and a fine at the king's will. Though at present they are not so highly valued as a delicacy, yet great numbers are preserved for their beauty; we see multitudes on the Thames and Trent, but no where greater numbers than on the salt-water inlet of the sea near Abbotbury in Dorsetshire.

2. The cygnoides, with a femicylindrical bill, gibbous wax, and tumid eye-brows. It is the swan-goose of Ray, from Guinea. There is likewise a variety of this species, of a less size, called the goose of Muscovy. They are found wild about the Lake Baikal in the east of Siberia, and in Kamtschatka. They are also kept tame in most parts of the Russian empire. These birds likewise inhabit China, and are common at the Cape of Good Hope. This is no doubt the species mentioned by Kolben called crop-goose; who says, that the sailors make tobacco-pouches and purses of the membrane which hangs beneath the throat, as it is sufficiently tough for such purposes, and will hold two pounds of tobacco.

They are sufficiently common in Britain, and readily mix with the common goose; the breeds uniting as freely, and continuing to produce as certainly, as if no such mixture had taken place. They are much more noisy than the common tame geese, taking alarm at the least noise; and even without disturbance will emit their harsh and disagreeable scream the whole day through. They walk very erect, with the neck much elevated; and as they bear a middle line between that of the swan and goose, they have not improperly been called swan-goose.

3. The tadorna, or sheildrake, has a flat bill, a compressed forehead, a greenish black head, and the body is variegated with white. This species is found as far as Iceland to the north. It visits Sweden and the Orkneys in the winter, and returns in spring. It is found in Asia about the Caspian Sea, and all the salt lakes of the Tartarian and Siberian deserts, as well as in Kamtschatka. Our voyagers, if right in the species, have also met with it at Falkland Isles and Van Diemen's Land. It breeds in deserted rabbit holes, or occupies them

Anas. them in the absence of the owners, who, rather than make an attempt at dislodging the intruders, form others; though, in defect of ready-made quarters, these birds will frequently dig holes for themselves. They lay fifteen or sixteen roundish white eggs. These are placed at the further end of the hole, covered with down supplied from the breast of the female, who sits about 30 days. She is very careful of the young, and will often carry them from place to place in her bill: "this we are certain of" (says Mr Latham), from a young one having been dropt at the foot of an intelligent friend unhurt, by the mother flying over his head." When a person attempts to take their young, the old birds show great address in diverting his attention from the brood: they will fly along the ground as if wounded, till the former are got into a place of security, and then return and collect them together. From this instinctive cunning, Turner, with good reason, imagines them to be the chenalopex, or fox-goose, of the ancients. The natives of the Orkneys to this day call them the fly-goose, from an attribute of that quadruped.

The young, as soon as hatched, take to the water, and swim surprisingly well; but do not come to their full plumage till the second year. This species, Mr Latham informs us, may be hatched under a tame duck, and the young readily brought up; but are apt, after a few years, to attempt the mastery over the rest of the poultry. In a state of nature, the food seems chiefly to be small fish, marine insects, and shells; herbage has likewise been found in their stomachs. In a tame state will eat bread, grain, and greens. Their great beauty would tempt us to endeavour at domesticating the race; but it will not thrive completely, except in the neighbourhood of salt water, which somehow seems essential to its well-being. The flesh likewise is rank and unfavoury, though the eggs have at all times been thought very good.

4. The spectabilis, has a compressed bill gibbous at the base, a black feathery carina, and a hoary head. It is the grey-headed duck of Edwards, and the king-duck of Pennant. This beautiful species is found at Hudson's Bay, at Churchill River, and (though scarce) at York Fort; in winter it is met with as far South as New York. It is pretty frequent in the north of Siberia and Kamtschatka; it is found also on the coast of Norway, and has been killed in the Orkneys. It is common in Greenland; where the flesh is accounted excellent, and the crude gibbous part of the bill a great delicacy. It produces a down equally valuable as the eider. The skins are sewed together, and make warm garments. The natives kill them with darts, and use the following method to succeed:—A number of men in canoes falling in with a flock while swimming, on a sudden set up a shouting, making as much noise as they can; on which, the birds being too much frightened to fly away, dive under the water: but as the place at which they are to rise again is known by the bubbling of the water above, the hunters follow them up as close as may be; and after acting this three or four times over, the birds become so fatigued as to be easily killed.—This species builds on the sides of ponds and rivers; making its nest of sticks and moss, and lining it with feathers from the breast. It lays four or five whitish eggs, as large as those of the goose. The

young fly in July. The food consists chiefly of worms and grass.

5. The fuscus, or velvet duck, is of a blackish colour, has a white spot behind the eyes, and a white line on the wings. The male of this species is distinguished by a gibbosity at the base of the bill. It is the black duck of Ray, and is in length about 20 inches. This species frequents Hudson's Bay in summer, where it breeds. The nest is composed of grass; in which it lays from four to six white eggs, and hatches in July. It feeds on grass, and is known by the name of eus casiqua tum. It retires south in winter; when it is frequently seen as far south as New York. Our late navigators met with it at Aoonalashka. It is now and then seen on the coasts of England, but is not common. It is more frequent on the continent, inhabiting Denmark and Russia. In some parts of Siberia it is very common; and it enters the list of those found at Kamtschatka. In breeding-time, it goes far inland to lay the eggs; which are eight or ten in number, and white. After the season is over, the males are said to depart; the females staying behind till the young are able to fly, when the two last go likewise off, but to what part is not certain. It is in greater plenty at Ochotiska, especially about the equinox. Fifty or more of the natives go in boats and surround the whole flock, driving them in the flood up the river Ochotiska; and, as soon as it ebbs, the whole company fall on them at once with clubs, and often knock so many of them on the head that each man has 20 or 30 for his share.

6. The nigra, or scoter, is totally black, and has a gibbosity at the base of the bill; the tail resembles a wedge; the female is brownish. It is the lesser black diver of Ray, and measures in length 22 inches. These birds are found on the northern coasts of England and those of Scotland in the winter season; but no where so common as on the French coasts, where they are seen in prodigious numbers from November to March, especially if the wind be to the north or north-west. Their chief food is a glossy bivalve shell, near an inch long, called by the French vainseaux. These they are perpetually diving after, frequently to the depth of some fathoms; and an usual method of catching them is by placing nets under the water in such places as the shells are most numerous; by which means 30 or 40 dozen of them have been taken in one tide. The day seems to be spent by these birds between diving and flying to small distances over the water, which it does so low as frequently to dip the legs therein. It swallows the food whole, and soon digests the shells, which are found quite crumbled to powder among the excrements. It has been kept tame for some time, and will feed on soaked bread. The flesh tastes fishy to an extreme; on which account it is allowed by the Roman Catholics to be eaten on fast-days and in lent; and indeed must be a sufficient mortification.—These birds abound in all the northern parts of the continent, Lapland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia; and are found in great plenty on the great lakes and rivers of the north and east of Siberia, as well as on the sea-shores. It likewise inhabits North America; being met with at New York; and in all probability much more to the north on that continent and that of Asia, Olbeck having met with them in 30 and 34 degrees south latitude,

jured, inasmuch as at last to hinder it from walking. The flesh is much esteemed, and the birds are often seen in the markets at the proper season. This species is found in America; in winter, as low as New York; in summer, at Hudson's Bay, where it frequents the fresh-water lakes, and makes in hollow trees a round nest of grass lined with feathers from its breast; lays from seven to ten white eggs.

23. The merla, or Ural duck of Pallas, is somewhat bigger than the common teal. The bill is large, broad, very tumid above the nostrils, and bifid in the adult bird, the end marked with diverging fringe; colour blue: the head, and part of the neck, are white; on the crown is a large patch of black: the middle of the neck is black: the fore-parts of the body are a yellowish brown, undulated with black: the back is clouded with a cinereous and pale yellow, powdered with brown: the wings are small; the tail longish, wedge-shaped, and black: the legs are brown, on the forepart bluish, and placed far back as in the diver genus. This species is not unfrequent in the greater lakes of the Ural mountains, and the rivers Ob and Irtysh. It is not seen on the ground, for from the situation of its legs it is unable to walk: but it swims very well and quick; at which time the tail is immersed in the water as far as the rump, serving by way of rudder, contrary to the common method of a duck's swimming. The nest is formed of reeds, and floats, something like to that of the grebe.

24. The American wigeon (le canard jensen of Buffon), is rather bigger than our wigeon. The bill is of a lead-colour: the crown and forehead of a yellowish white: the hind-part of the head and neck is black and white, speckled; and behind the eye is a black mark, changing in some lights to green: the back and scapulars are of a pale rust-colour, waved with transverse black lines: in the middle of the wing coverts there is a large bed of white: the quills and tail are deep brown: the legs dusky. It inhabits North America, from Carolina to Hudson's Bay; but is no where a common bird. It is called at New-York, the Pheasant Duck. It is more plenty at St Domingo and Cayenne, where it is called vinegon or gingeon. At Martinico great flocks of them often take short flights from one rice plantation to another, where they make much havoc, particularly during the rainy season. They are said to perch on trees. They feed in company; and have a sentinel on the watch, like some other birds. They are seldom seen during the day, lying hid in places shaded from the sun: but so soon as that luminary disappears, they come forth from their hiding-places to feed; and, during this, make a particular kind of noise, by which the sportsman is directed in his search after them: at other times their note is a kind of soft whistle, which is often imitated in order to decoy them within reach of the gun. They sit in January; and in March the young are seen running about. They lay many eggs. Sometimes these are hatched under hens; in which case they are, while young, familiar, though when grown up exceedingly quarrelsome with other ducks: their flesh is most excellent, especially such as are brought up tame. They appear upon the coasts of Hudson's Bay in May, as soon as the thaws come on, chiefly in pairs: they lay there only from six to eight eggs; and feed on flies and worms in the swamps. They depart

in flocks in autumn. They are known by the name of atbekims asheep.

25. The acuta, pin-tail, or sea-pheasant of Ray, has a long acuminated tail, black below, with a white line on each side of the back part of the head. It is a native of Europe. Mr Hartlib, in the appendix to his Legacy, tells us, that these birds are found in great abundance in Connaught in Ireland, in the month of February only; and that they are much esteemed for their delicacy.

26. The glacialis, or long-tailed duck, is inferior in size to the former. The bill is short, black at the tip and base, orange-coloured in the middle; the cheeks are of a pale brown; the hind part of the head, and the neck both before and behind, are white; the breast and back are of a deep chocolate colour; the four middle feathers of the tail are black, and two of them near four inches longer than the others, which are white: the legs dusky. These birds breed in the most northern parts of the world; and only visit our coasts in the severest winters. It breeds in Hudson's Bay and Greenland, among the stones and grass, making its nest, like the eider, with the down of its own breast, which is equal in value to that of the eider, if it could be got in equal quantity; but the species is scarcer. It lays five eggs; swims and dives admirably; and feeds on shell-fish, which it gets in very deep water. It flies irregularly, sometimes showing its back, sometimes its belly. It continues in Greenland the whole year, in unfrozen places: but there are seasons so very severe, as at times to force them towards the south. Those which breed between Lapland and the polar circle, are often driven into Sweden, and the neighbourhood of Petersburg: those from the coast of the Icy sea, as low as lat. 55; but on the setting in of frost, they retire still further south, unless where some open spots remain in the rivers. They visit the fresh-water lakes in the Orkneys, in October, and continue there till April. At sun-set they are seen, in great flocks, returning to and from the bays, where they frequently pass the night, and make such a noise as to be heard some miles in frosty weather.

27. The ferina, pochard, or red-headed widgeon of Ray, has a lead-coloured bill: the head and neck are of a bright gay colour: the breast and part of the back where it joins the neck, are black: the coverts of the wings, the scapulars, back, and sides under the wings, are of a pale grey, elegantly marked with narrow lines of black: the tail consists of twelve short feathers, of a deep grey colour: the legs are lead coloured; and the irides of a bright yellow, tinged with red. The head of the female is of a pale reddish brown. With us, these birds frequent the fens in the winter season, and are brought up to the London markets sometimes in considerable numbers, where they are known by the name of Dun Birds, and are esteemed excellent eating. In winter, they pass pretty far to the south, being found in Egypt, about Cairo. They come into France the end of October in small flocks, from 20 to 40; and are found in Carolina in winter. They feed on small fish and shells. Their flight is rapid and strong; but the flocks form no particular shape in flying.

28. The querquedula, garganey, or first teal of Aldrovandus, has a green spot on the wings, and a white line

Ans. line above the eyes. It frequents the fresh waters of Europe. In many places it is called the summer-teal.

29. The creca, or common teal, has a green spot on the wings, and a white line both above and below the eyes. It is of a small size, only 14 inches in length. The teal is frequent in the London markets along with the wild-duck. It is met with in Duddington-loch, a fresh-water lake, within a mile of Edinburgh. In France it stays throughout the year, and makes a nest in April among the rushes, on the edges of ponds; it is composed of the tenderest stalks of them, with the addition of the pith, and a quantity of feathers. The nest is of a large size, and placed in the water, so as to rise and fall with it. The eggs are the size of those of a pigeon, of a dirty white, marked with small hazel spots. It is said to feed on the grass and weeds which grow on the edges of the ponds which it frequents, as well as the seeds of the rushes; it will also eat small fish. The flesh is accounted excellent. It is found to the north as high as Iceland; and is mentioned as inhabiting the Caspian sea to the south.

30. The hirtrionica, or dusky-spotted duck of Edwards, is of a brown colour, variegated with white and blue; it has a double line on the ears and temples; the collar is white, and there is a white streak on the neck. It inhabits from Carolina to Greenland: in the last it frequents, during summer, the rapid rivers, and the most shady parts; nesting on the banks, among the low shrubs. It swims and dives admirably. In winter it seeks the open sea, flies high and swiftly, and is very clamorous. It feeds on shell-fish, spawn, and the larvae of gnats. Is found in Iceland, and as low as Sondmor. It is common from the lake Baikal to Kamtschatka; and breeds there, as well as every where else, about the most rocky and rapid torrents.

31. The minuta, or little white and brown duck of Edwards, is of a greyish colour, with white ears, and the prime feathers of the wings blackish. This and the former, according to Latham, are found both on the old and new continents. On the first, it is seen as far south as the lake Baikal, and from thence to Kamtschatka, particularly up the river Ochotiska; also in Iceland, and as low as Sondmor. In America, it is found from Carolina to Newfoundland, and Hudson's Bay; also in Greenland, where it frequents, during summer, bays and rivers, especially near their mouths, and is a very noisy species. It is fond of shady places, and makes the nest on the shore among the shrubs. Its food is small shells, eggs of fishes, and particularly the larvae of gnats. It swims well, even in the most rapid streams; and dives to admiration: it likewise flies swift, and to a great height: from which circumstances, it is not easily taken. Our late navigators met with it at Aoonalashka. It is pretty frequent in the small rivulets of Hudson's Bay, about 90 miles inland; seldom in large rivers. It lays 10 or more white eggs, like those of the pigeon, on the grass; and the young brood speckled in a very pretty manner. It migrates south in autumn.

32. The boschas, common wild-duck of Ray, or mallard; the intermediate tail-feathers of the drake are turned backward, and the bill is straight. It frequents the lakes of different countries, and feeds upon frogs and several sorts of insects.—The wild-ducks pair in the spring; build their nests among rushes near the

water, and lay from 10 to 16 eggs. The female is a very artful bird; and does not always make the nest close to the water, but frequently at a good distance from it; in which case the duck will take the young in its beak or between the legs. It is known sometimes to lay the eggs in a high tree, in a deserted magpie's or crow's nest. At moulting-time, when they cannot fly, they are caught in great numbers. They abound particularly in Lincolnshire, the great magazine of wild-fowl in this kingdom; where prodigious numbers are taken annually in the decoys. Birds with flat bills, that find their food by groping, have three pair of nerves that extend to the end of their bills: these nerves are remarkably conspicuous in the head and bill of the wild-duck, and are larger than those of a goose or any other bird yet known: this is the reason they grope for food more than any other bird whatever.—The common tame species of ducks take their origin from these, and may be traced to it by unerring characters. The drakes, howsoever they vary in colours, always retain the curled feathers of the tail, and both sexes the form of the bill, of the wild kind. Nature sports in the colours of all domestic animals; and for a wise and useful end, that mankind may the more readily distinguish and claim their respective property.

In France this species is not often seen, except in winter; appearing in October, and going north in spring. They are caught in various manners; among the rest, in decoys, as in England; the chief place for which is Picardy, where prodigious numbers are taken, particularly on the river Somme. It is also customary there to wait for the flocks passing over certain known places, and the sportsman, having a wicker cage, containing a quantity of tame birds, lets out one at a time, at a convenient season, which enticing the passengers within gunshot, five or six are often killed at once by an expert marksman. They are now and then taken also by a hook baited with a bit of sheep's lights, which swimming on the water, the bird swallows the bait, and with it the hook. Various other means of catching ducks and geese are peculiar to certain nations; of which one seems worth mentioning from its singularity:—The person wishing to take these, wades into the water up to the chin, and having his head covered with an empty calabash, approaches the place where the ducks are; when they, not regarding an object of this sort, suffer the man freely to mix with the flock; after which he has only to pull them by the leg under the water, one after another, till he is satisfied; returning as unsuspected by the remainder as when he first came among them. This method is frequently put in practice on the river Ganges, using the earthen vessels of the Gentoos instead of the calabashes: these vessels are what the Gentoos boil their rice in, and are called Kutcharee pots (they likewise make a dish for their tables in them, which goes by the same name): after these are once used they look upon them as defiled, and in course throw them into the river as useless; and the duck-takers find them convenient for their purpose, as the ducks, from constantly seeing the vessels float down the stream, look upon them as objects of full as little regard as a calabash. The above, or some such method, is also practised in China as well as in India. The Chinese, however, though they make great use of

zyn, between the sixth and tenth of April. They rest a little time on the banks of the Sarpa, but soon resume their arctic course. Their winter retreat is probably in Persia. They are highly esteemed for the table, being quite free from any fishy taste.

14. The casarca, or ruddy goose, is larger than a mallard, and seems even larger than it really is, from the length of wing, and standing high on its legs. The bill is black: the irides are yellowish brown: forehead, cheeks, and throat, yellowish; fore part of the neck ferruginous, encircled with a collar of black, inclining to deep rufous on the throat: the breast and sides are pale rufous; the belly is obscure: the back is pale; the lower part is undulated, hoary, and brown, not very distinct; the rump and tail are greenish black: the legs long and black. This species is found in all the southern parts of Russia and Siberia in plenty. In winter it migrates into India, and returns northward in spring. It makes the nest in the craggy banks of the Wolga and other rivers, or in the hollows of the deserted hillocks of marmots; making it after the manner of the field-rake, and is said to form burrows for itself in the manner of that bird. It has been known also to lay in an hollow tree, lining the nest with its own feathers. It is monogamous: the male and female sit in turns. The eggs are like those of the common duck. When the young come forth, the mother will often carry them from the place of hatching to the water with her bill. They have been attempted to be domesticated, by rearing the young under tame ducks; but without success, as they ever are wild, effecting their escape the first opportunity: or if the old ones are taken and confined, they lay the eggs in a dispersed manner, and never sit. The voice is not unlike the note of a clarinet, while flying; at other times they cry like a peacock, especially when kept tame; and now and then cluck like a hen. It is very choice of its mate; for if the male is killed, the female will not leave the gunner till she has been two or three times shot at. The flesh is thought very good food.

15. The bernicla, is of a brown colour; with the head, neck, and breast, black; and a white collar. These birds, like the bernacles, frequent our coasts in winter; and are particularly plenty, at times, on those of Holland and Ireland, where they are taken in nets placed across the rivers. In some seasons they have resorted to the coasts of Picardy, in France, in such prodigious flocks as to prove a pest to the inhabitants, especially in the winter of the year 1740, when these birds destroyed all the corn near the sea-coasts, by tearing it up by the roots. A general war was for this reason declared against them, and carried on in earnest, by knocking them on the head with clubs; but their numbers were so prodigious, that this availed but little: nor were the inhabitants relieved from this scourge till the north wind, which had brought them, ceased to blow, when they took leave. They easily become tame; and, being fattened, are thought to be a delicate food. They breed pretty far north, returning southward in autumn. They fly in the shape of a wedge, like the wild geese, with great clamour. They are called in Shetland, Horra geese, from being found in that found. They are common also in America; breeding in the islands, and along the coast, and feed about high-water mark. Their food consists of plants, such

as the small bistort, and black-berried heaths, sea-worms, berries, and the like. They are apt to have a fishy taste, but are in general thought good food. The same fable has been told of this bird as of the bernacle, in respect to its being bred from trees. Called at Hudson's Bay, Weiba may pa wew.

16. The canadensis is brown; its neck and head are black, and the throat is white. It measures three and a half feet in length. It is found during the summer in Hudson's Bay, and parts beyond; also in Greenland; and, in the summer months, in various parts of North America, as far as Carolina. Numbers breed at Hudson's Bay, and lay six or seven eggs; but the major part retire still farther north. Their first appearance in the Bay is from about the middle of April to about the middle of May, when the inhabitants wait for them with impatience, being one of the chief articles for food, and many years kill as far as 3000 or 4000, which are salted and barrelled. Their arrival is the harbinger of spring, and the month is named by the Indians the geese-moon. The British send out their servants, as well as Indians, to shoot these birds on their passage. It is in vain to pursue them; they therefore form a row of huts made of boughs, at musket-shot distance from each other, and place them in a line across the vast marshes of the country. Each hovel, or, as they are called, stand, is occupied by only a single person. These attend the flight of the birds, and on their approach mimic their cackle so well, that the geese will answer, and wheel, and come nearer the stand. The sportsman keeps motionless, and on his knees, with his gun cocked, the whole time; and never fires till he has seen the eyes of the geese. He fires as they are going from him, then picks up another gun that lies by him, and discharges that. The geese which he has killed he sets up on sticks as if alive, to decoy others; he also makes artificial birds for the same purpose. In a good day (for they fly in very uncertain and unequal numbers) a single Indian will kill 200. Notwithstanding every species of goose has a different call, yet the Indians are admirable in their imitation of every one. In this sport, however, they must be very careful to secrete themselves; for the birds are very shy, and on the least motion fly off directly. On their return south, which is from the middle of August to the middle of October, much havoc is made among them; but these are preserved fresh for winter store, by putting them, feathers and all, into a large hole dug in the ground, and covering them with mould; and these, during the whole time of the frost's lasting, are found perfectly sweet and good. The Indians at Hudson's Bay call them Apistikish. This species is now pretty common, in a tame state, both on the continent and in England; on the great canal at Versailles hundreds are seen mixing with the swans with the greatest cordiality; and the same at Chantilly. In England, likewise, they are thought a great ornament to the pieces of water in many gentlemen's seats, where they are very familiar, and breed freely. The flesh of the young birds is accounted good; and the feathers equal to those of other geese, inasmuch as to prove an article of commerce much in the favour of those places where they are in sufficient numbers.

17. The mollissima, or eider-duck, is double the size of the common duck, has a cylindrical bill, and the

wax is divided behind, and wrinkled. The feathers, which are very soft and valuable, fall off during incubation. The male is white above, but black below and behind: the female is greenish. This species is found in the Western Isles of Scotland, particularly on Orans, Barra, Rona, and Heisker, and on the Farn Isles; but in greater numbers in Norway, Iceland, and Greenland; from whence a vast quantity of the down, known by the name of eider or edder, which these birds furnish, is annually imported. Its remarkably light, elastic, and warm qualities, make it highly esteemed as a stuffing for coverlets, by such whom age or infirmities render unable to support the weight of common blankets. This down is produced from the breast of the birds in the breeding season. It lays its eggs among the stones or plants near the shore; and prepares a soft bed for them, by plucking the down from its own breast: the natives watch the opportunity, and take away both eggs and nest: the duck lays again, and repeats the plucking of its breast: if she is robbed after that, she will still lay; but the drakes must supply the down, as her stock is now exhausted: but if her eggs are taken a third time, she wholly deserts the place. See Downs.

These birds are not numerous on the isles; and it is observed that the drakes keep on those most remote from the fitting places. The ducks continue on their nests till you come almost close to them; and when they rise, are very slow fliers. The number of eggs in each nest are from three to five, warmly bedded in the down; of a pale olive colour; and very large, glossy, and smooth. They now and then, however, lay so many as eight; for Van Troil informs us, that no less than 16 have been found in one nest, with two females, who agree remarkably well together.—In America this bird is found as far south as New York, and breeds on the desert isles of New England; but most common every where to the north. They are said to be constant to the same breeding places, and that a pair has been observed to occupy the same nest for 20 years together. They take their young on their backs instantly to sea; then dive, to shake them off and teach them to shift for themselves. It is said, that the males are five years old before they come to their full colour; that they live to a great age, and will at length grow quite grey. Their food is shells, for which they dive to great depths. They are very numerous in the Esquimaux lands, where and in Greenland they are called mettek. The natives kill them on the water with darts, striking them the moment they appear after diving; and know the place from their being preceded by the rising of bubbles. The flesh is said to be much valued.

18. The maula, or scaup-duck, is less than the common duck. The bill is broad, flat, and of a greyish blue colour; the head and neck are black, glossed with green; the breast is black; the back, the coverts of the wings, and the scapulars, are finely marked with numerous narrow transverse bars of black and grey; the legs are dusky. Mr Willughby acquaints us, that these birds take their name from feeding on scaup, or broken shell-fish; they differ infinitely in colours, so that in a flock of 40 or 50 there are not two alike.

19. The moschata, or Muscovy duck of Ray, has a naked papillous face, and is a native of India.—It is bigger than the wild duck, being in length two feet.

This species is pretty common in a domesticated state in almost every nation; and the breed ought to be encouraged, as there is more flesh on it than on the common duck, and of a very high flavour. The eggs are rounder than those of a duck, and in young birds frequently incline to green. They lay more eggs, and sit oftener, than other ducks. In an unconfined state they make the nest on the stumps of old trees, and perch during the heat of the day on the branches of such as are well clothed with leaves. When kept tame, they are sufficiently docile; and the male will not unfrequently associate and produce a mongrel breed with the common ducks. The name of Muscovy duck was given to them from their exhalating a musky odour, which proceeds from the gland placed on the rump in common with other birds.

20. The clypeata, or shoveler of Ray, has the end of its bill broad, rounded, and furnished with a small hook. It is in length 21 inches; the female a trifle smaller. Both sexes are apt to vary much in colour: the male likewise differs from the female inwardly, having, just above the divarication of the windpipe where it passes into the lungs, an enlargement, or, as it is called by some, a labyrinth.—This bird is now and then met with in England, though not in great numbers. It is said to come into France in February, and some of them to stay during the summer. It lays 10 or 12 rufous-coloured eggs, placed on a bed of rushes, in the same places as the summer-teal; and departs in September, at least the major part of them, for it is rare that one is seen in the winter. The chief food is insects, for which it is continually muddling in the water with its bill. It also is said dexterously to catch flies which pass in its way over the water. Shrimps, among other things, have been found in its stomach on dissection. This species is also found in most parts of Germany; throughout the Russian dominions, as far as Kamtschatka; and in North America, in New York and Carolina during the winter season. With us it is accounted pretty good food.

21. The strepera, or gad-wall, has the wings variegated with black, white, and red. It inhabits England in the winter months, and is also found at the same season in various parts of France and Italy. It migrates as far as Sweden as summer advances in order to breed; and found throughout Russia and Siberia, except in the eastern part of the last, and Kamtschatka. Being a very quick diver, it is difficult to be shot. It feeds morning and evening only, being hid among the reeds and rushes during the day. The noise it makes is not unlike that of the mallard, but louder. The flesh is good.

22. The clangula, or golden-eye of Ray, is variegated with black and white, and the head is interspersed with blackish green feathers: it has a white spot near the mouth; and the eyes are of a shining gold colour. It is not unfrequent on our sea-coasts in winter, and appears in small flocks; but passes to the north in spring in order to breed. It inhabits Sweden and Norway during the summer. It is an excellent diver, and feeds on small shells. It is mostly seen in the water, as it is very awkward in walking. It has been attempted to be domesticated, but seems out of its element on land. With difficulty it can be brought to eat any thing but bread; and the feet soon grow injured.

itude, between the island of Java and St Paul, in the month of June.

7. The anser, ferus et mansuetus; or grey lag, and tame goose. The grey lag or wild goose, is two feet nine inches in length, and five feet in extent. The bill is large and elevated; of a flesh colour, tinged with yellow; the head and neck cinereous; breast and belly whitish, clouded with grey or ash colour; back, grey; the legs of a flesh colour. This species resides in the fens the whole year; breeds there, and hatches about eight or nine young, which are often taken, easily tamed, and esteemed most excellent meat, superior to the domestic goose. Towards winter they collect in great flocks, but in all seasons live and feed in the fens. On the continent they are migratory, changing place in large flocks, often 500 or more: in this case the flock is triangular in shape, with one point foremost; and as the goose which is first is tired soonest, it has been seen to drop behind, and another to take his place. In very small flocks, however, they are sometimes seen to follow one another in a direct line. Geese seem to be general inhabitants of the globe.

The mansuetus, is the grey lag in a state of domestication, and from which it varies in colour, though much less so than either the mallard or cock, being ever more or less verging to grey; though in all cases the whiteness of the vent, and upper tail coverts, is manifest. It is frequently found quite white, especially the males; and doubts have arisen, which of the two colours should have the preference in point of eating.—Tame geese are kept in great multitudes in the fens of Lincolnshire: a single person will have 1000 old geese, each of which will rear seven; so that towards the end of the season he will become master of 8000. During the breeding season these birds are lodged in the same houses with the inhabitants, and even in their very bed-chambers: in every apartment are three rows of coarse wicker pens, placed one above another; each bird has its separate lodge divided from the other, which it keeps possession of during the time of sitting. A person, called a gezzard, i. e. goose-herd, attends the flock, and twice a-day drives the whole to water; then brings them back to their habitations, helping those that live in the upper stories to their nests, without ever misplacing a single bird. The geese are plucked five times in the year: the first plucking is at Lady-day, for feathers and quills; and the same is renewed, for feathers only, four times more between that and Michaelmas. The old geese submit quietly to the operation, but the young ones are very noisy and unruly. If the season proves cold, numbers of them die by this barbarous custom. Vast numbers of geese are driven annually to London to supply the markets; among them, all the superannuated geese and ganders, which, by a long course of plucking, prove uncommonly tough and dry.

The goose in general breeds only once in a year; but will frequently have two hatches in a season, if well kept. The time of sitting is about 30 days. They will also produce eggs sufficient for three broods, if they are taken away in succession. It is said to be very long-lived, as we have authority for their arriving at no less than 100 years.

The common price of geese in Wiltshire, is regulated by that of mutton, both being the same by the

pound, without the feathers. The usual weight of a fine goose is 15 or 16 pounds; but it is scarce credible how far this may be increased by cramming them with bean-meal and other fattening diet. The victims destined for this surfeit are by some nailed to the floor by the webs of the feet, which causes no pain, and is meant to prevent the least possibility of action: to which, we are told, the French add the refinement of putting out their eyes; but what end this last piece of barbarity is meant to serve, is hard to conjecture. To what weight they arrive in France is not said; but we have been well informed, that 28 or even 30 pounds, is no uncommon thing in England.

8. The bean-goose is two feet seven inches in length; in extent four feet eleven. The bill, which is the chief distinction between this and the former, is small, much compressed near the end, whitish, and sometimes pale red in the middle, and black at the base and nail: the head and neck are cinereous brown, tinged with ferruginous; breast and belly, dirty white, clouded with cinereous; the back of a plain ash colour; feet and legs of a saffron colour; claws black. This species arrives in Lincolnshire in autumn; and is called the bean-goose, from the likeness of the nail of the bill to a horse-bean. They always light on corn-fields, and feed much on the green wheat. They never breed in the fens; but all disappear in May. They retreat to the sequestered wilds of the north of Europe; in their migration they fly a great height, cackling as they go. They preserve a great regularity in their motions; sometimes forming a straight line; at others, assuming the shape of a wedge, which facilitates their progress, for they cut the air readier in that form than if they flew pell-mell.

9. The erythropus, or laughing-goose of Edwards, is a native of Europe and America. The length of this species is about two feet four, the extent four feet six; the bill is elevated, of a pale yellow colour, with a white ring at the base; the forehead is white; the breast and belly are of a dirty white, marked with great spots of black; and the legs yellow. These visit the fens and other parts of England during winter, in small flocks; they keep always in marshy places, and never frequent the corn-lands. They disappear in the earliest spring, and none are seen after the middle of March. Linnaeus makes this goose the female of the bernacle; but Mr Pennant thinks his opinion not well founded.

The bernacle (erythropus was, Lin.) is two feet one inch in length, the breadth four feet five inches: the bill is black; the forehead and cheeks are white; from the bill to the eyes, there is a black line; the hind part of the head, the whole neck, and upper part of the breast and back, are of a deep black; the tail is black, the legs are of the same colour, and small. These birds appear in vast flocks during winter, on the north-west coasts of this kingdom: they are very shy and wild; but on being taken, grow in a few days as familiar as our tame geese. In February they quit our shores, and retire as far as Lapland, Greenland, and even Spitzbergen, to breed. They live to a great age: the Rev. Dr Buckworth of Spalding, had one which was kept in the family above 32 years, but was blind during the two last; what its age was when first taken, was unknown.

These are the birds that about 200 years ago were believed